Ward Bennett’s approach to designing

This drawing, by American designer Ward Bennett, shows the designer's mind at work for objects in a variety of media during the initial stages of creation. Here, Bennett has conceived an ambitious range of objects including cookware, kitchen utensils, and glassware. (We know from other materials contained in Bennett's archive that he consulted glass instruments and hardware catalogues, presumably for inspiration to create a line of cookware and lighting.) Although many of the projects illustrated on this sheet were probably unrealized, the objects share Bennett's aesthetic of simple geometries noted in other examples of his work acquired by the Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design and Product Design & Decorative Arts Departments. This sheet allows us to more fully understand how Bennett approached the act of designing.